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In 1968, Castro took filmmaker and activist Saul Landau on a weeklong jeep ride through the eastern mountains, capturing the revolutionary chief joking with the old men, playing baseball with peasants and listening people's concerns. With rare archival footage and spectacular photography, [x]close

Academy-Award winning director, Oliver Stone delivers a candid, in-depth conversation with one of the most controversial world leaders of our time, Fidel Castro. Stone challenges Castro to explain actions following the execution of three political dissidents who attempted to hijack a ferry to the United States in April 2003. Castro's response and his actions were condemned worldwide, further isolating Cuba. Stone was given unprecedented access, interviewing not only Castro, but many of the prisoners, their wives, leading dissidents and human rights advocates -- all of whom express their views forcefully in the emotionally charged environment of Cuba today. Whether or not you accept Castro's world view, Stone's, tough but fair portrait helps to illuminate Cuba's unique and complicated place in the world. Is Castro a moral leader defending his small island against a superpower or is he an ironfisted tyrant who tolerates no criticism? Or is the truth somewhere in between?
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Bernie Sanders speaks in Berkeley on Friday, December 2nd, to discuss his new book Our Revolution. His new book covers the epochal run for President, and the Movement he's catalyzing with his timely ideas on college tuition, employment, health care, the environment, tax fairness, Citizens United, and how to bring Progressive activism to the ballot box locally, statewide, and nationally. The election is over, but the Movement will continue, gaining momentum throughout the coming months. Don't miss this great opportunity to hear Bernie talk about what's next for the Movement and for the country![x]close

Whether dismissed as a relic or revered as a savior, many agree that Fidel Castro is one of the most influential and controversial figures of our time. Rarely are Americans given a chance to see inside the world of this socialist leader. The documentary Fidel offers a unique opportunity to view the man through exclusive interviews with Castro himself, historians, public figures and close friends, with rare footage from the Cuban State archives.
Alice Walker, Harry Belafonte, and Sydney Pollack discuss Fidel as a person, while former and current US government figures including Arthur Schlesinger, Ramsey Clark, Wayne Smith, Congressman Charles Rangel and a former CIA agent offer political and historical perspectives on Castro and the long-standing US embargo against Cuba. Family members and close friends, including Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, offer a window into his rarely seen personal life.
Bravo's camera captures Fidel Castro swimming with bodyguards, visiting his childhood home and school, joking with Nelson Mandela, Ted Turner and Muhammad Ali, meeting Elian Gonzalez, and celebrating his birthday with members of the Buena Vista Social Club. Juxtaposing the personal anecdotal with history of the Cuban revolution and the fight to survive the post-Soviet period, Fidel tells a previously untold story and presents a new view of this compelling figure.[x]close

Fidel Castro has ruled Cuba for over five decades, since revolutionary forces toppled the Batista regime in 1959. Officially elected by the Cuban people in 1976, Castro has nevertheless had to survive over 600 assassination attempts. Cuban director Rebeca Chavez uses archival film and audio material to create a collage of important moments in Castro's political and personal life, including his re-definition of Cuba's role after the collapse of the Communist Bloc.
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The film that predicted Trump would steal the election. Rolling Stone investigative reporter Greg Palast busted Jeb Bush for stealing the 2000 election by purging Black voters from Florida's electoral rolls. Now Palast is back to take a deep dive into the Republicans' dark operation, Crosscheck WHICH STOLE a million minority votes by November--and the billionaires who BANKROLLED it.[x]close

WHERE TO INVADE NEXT is, as one critic pointed out, my "most dangerous and subversive film." It's dangerous because it shows the American public exactly how we can achieve, quite easily, a very decent society. One where we all take care of each other, where there's true, free and universal health care, a stunningly amazing educational system, a place where no one needs a second job, everyone gets at least a month's paid vacation, all families have paid maternity and sick leave, where the war on drugs is over and the prisons are now half-empty because people got help or were just left to live their lives in peace. There is a whole world out there where I take you from country to country to country and expose all the lies we've been told:
* The French don't pay more "taxes" than us - they actually pay LESS than we do.
* College doesn't have to bankrupt you - in fact, even the poorest of countries can afford to let everyone go to university for free.
* Imagine countries where their justice system is not set up to mass incarcerate one particular racial group.
* Instead of spending their money on war and invading countries, what would you say if I showed you how ALL the other democracies spend their money on their people?
* And the number one thing I saw, over and over: Where women have true political and economic power, EVERYONE'S life gets better. Imagine that.
Those places actually exist - and it's called... the rest of the civilized world! We’ve been lied to and misled for too long. And I don't just talk about this - I SHOW YOU the schools in Finland, the prisons in Norway, the bright and humane factories in Germany (where everyone makes a middle class wage), the public school lunchroom in France where students are fed a four-course meal, and you get to meet the college students in Slovenia who have absolutely no frighin' idea what a "student loan" is.
This is what makes WHERE TO INVADE NEXT so subversive, because if enough of you see this movie, that's it. Once millions have this information - and inspiration - the game is over. For Wall Street. For the bought-off politicians. For the boss or the dean or the candidate who keeps telling you "it just can't be done!" That's collectively the biggest con ever, and I am here to blow it up once and for all with this movie.
That's why I so desperately want you to see WHERE TO INVADE NEXT. You've probably already read on Twitter or Facebook people calling it "my best film ever." I have no problem with that statement. I'm convinced it's the best thing you'll see this year.
- Michael Moore
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REQUIEM FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM is the definitive discourse with Noam Chomsky, on the defining characteristic of our time - the deliberate concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a select few. Through interviews filmed over four years, Chomsky unpacks the principles that have brought us to the crossroads of historically unprecedented inequality - tracing a half century of policies designed to favor the most wealthy at the expense of the majority - while also looking back on his own life of activism and political participation. Profoundly personal and thought provoking, Chomsky provides penetrating insight into what may well be the lasting legacy of our time - the death of the middle class, and swan song of functioning democracy. A potent reminder that power ultimately rests in the hands of the governed, REQUIEM is required viewing for all who maintain hope in a shared stake in the future.
- Written by Jared P. Scott [x]close

In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
This highly political film about the Algerian struggle for independence from France took "Best Film" honors at the 1966 Venice Film Festival. The bulk of the film is shot in flashback, presented as the memories of Ali (Brahim Haggiag), a leading member of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN), when finally captured by the French in 1957. Three years earlier, Ali was a petty thief who joined the secretive organization in order to help rid the Casbah of vice associated with the colonial government. The film traces the rebels' struggle and the increasingly extreme measures taken by the French government to quell what soon becomes a nationwide revolt. After the flashback, Ali and the last of the FLN leaders are killed, and the film takes on a more general focus, leading to the declaration of Algerian independence in 1962. Director Gillo Pontecorvo's careful re-creation of a complicated guerrilla struggle presents a rather partisan view of some complex social and political issues, which got the film banned in France for many years. That should not come as a surprise, for La Battaglia di Algeri was subsidized by the Algerian government and -- with the exception of Jean Martin and Tommaso Neri as French officers -- the cast was entirely Algerian as well.
- Robert Firsching, Rovi [x]close

Capitalism has been the engine of unprecedented economic growth and social transformation. With the fall of the communist states and the triumph of "neo- liberalism," capitalism is by far the world's dominant ideology. But how much do we understand about how it originated, and what makes it work?
CAPITALISM is an ambitious and accessible six-part documentary series that looks at both the history of ideas and the social forces that have shaped the capitalist world.
Blending interviews with some of the world's great historians, economists, anthropologists, and social critics (view the complete list of participants), with on-the-ground footage shot in twenty-two countries, CAPITALISM questions the myth of the unfettered free market, explores the nature of debt and commodities, and retraces some of the great economic debates of the last 200 years.
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While much of the public is still reeling over the election of Donald Trump, the power of his appeal may be less surprising than we think, given America's long history of right-wing populism and the contradictions of liberalism. Steve Fraser traces the history of the notion of the limousine liberal, central to right-wing populism and embodied by Hillary Clinton, and discusses whether we might see a return of the formidable anti-capitalist movements of the past.[x]close

Bernie Sanders speaks in Berkeley on Friday, December 2nd, to discuss his new book Our Revolution. His new book covers the epochal run for President, and the Movement he's catalyzing with his timely ideas on college tuition, employment, health care, the environment, tax fairness, Citizens United, and how to bring Progressive activism to the ballot box locally, statewide, and nationally. The election is over, but the Movement will continue, gaining momentum throughout the coming months. Don't miss this great opportunity to hear Bernie talk about what's next for the Movement and for the country![x]close

In The Breakthrough, veteran journalist Gwen Ifill surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama's stunning presidential victory and introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.
Ifill argues that the Black political structure formed during the Civil Rights movement is giving way to a generation of men and women who are the direct beneficiaries of the struggles of the 1960s. She offers incisive, detailed profiles of such prominent leaders as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama (all interviewed for this book), and also covers numerous up-and-coming figures from across the nation. Drawing on exclusive interviews with power brokers such as President Obama, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, his son Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., and many others, as well as her own razor-sharp observations and analysis of such issues as generational conflict, the race/ gender clash, and the "black enough" conundrum, Ifill shows why this is a pivotal moment in American history.
The Breakthrough is a remarkable look at contemporary politics and an essential foundation for understanding the future of American democracy in the age of Obama.[x]close

Inspiring Participatory Democracy.
The famous 1962 Port Huron Statement by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) introduced the concept of participatory democracy to popular discourse and practice. In Inspiring Participatory Democracy Tom Hayden, one of the principal architects of the statement, analyses its historical impact and relevance to today's movements. Inspiring Participatory Democracy includes the full transcript of the Port Huron statment and shows how it played an important role in the movements for black civil rights, against the Vietnam war and for the Freedom of Information Act. Published during the year of Port Huron's 50th anniversary, Inspiring Participatory Democracy will be of great interest to readers interested in social history, politics and social activism.[x]close

Based on unprecedented access to both Cuban and American officials, a book that offers fresh insight into one of history's most enigmatic relationships between nation-states-from one of America's best-known voices of political and social activism.
Listen, Yankee! offers an account of Cuban politics from Tom Hayden's unique position as an observer of Cuba and as a US revolutionary student leader whose efforts to mobilize political change in the US mirrored the radical transformation simultaneously going on in Cuba.
Chapters are devoted to the writings of Che Guevara, Regis Debray, and C. Wright Mills; the Cuban missile crisis; the Weather Underground; the assassination of JFK; the strong historical links between Cuba and Africa; the Carter era; the Clinton era; the Cuban Five; Elian Gonzalez; and the December 17, 2014 declaration of normalization by presidents Obama and Castro.
Hayden puts the present moment into historical context, and shows how we're finally finding common ground to the advantage of Cubans and Americans alike. [x]close

Our words have the power to create profound healing or incredible suffering. Yet even with the best intentions, it is often difficult to express ourselves in ways that build harmony and trust.
Speaking Peace presents a seminal four-part model you can use immediately to connect to the spirit of love and generosity within you, and start contributing to the well-being of everyone you relate to. For over 40 years, visionary author Marshall Rosenberg has used the process of Nonviolent Communication to help families, schools, businesses, and governments reach accord in seemingly impossible conflicts.
Join this pioneering voice to learn:
* How to use your natural empathy to defuse stressful situations, and safely confront anger, fear, and other emotions.
* Proven skills for overcoming dehumanizing communication patterns that block compassion.
* How to see through the eyes of others to foster understanding, and more.
Marshall Rosenberg teaches that when you convey what is alive in you, your true feelings, and the values and desires behind them, you establish honest, nurturing relationships that eventually fulfill everyone's needs. With Speaking Peace, learn how to align your speech with your heart's purest depths.[x]close

Hailed by Toni Morrison as "required reading," a bold and personal literary exploration of America's racial history by "the single best writer on the subject of race in the United States" (The New York Observer).
"This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it."
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of "race," a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men - bodies exploited through slavery and segregation and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates' attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son - and listeners - the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children's lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward. [x]close

Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History of the United States is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of -- and in the words of -- America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers. [x]close

The music of Latin America has long been some of the world's most beloved, whether Brazilian bossa nova, Argentinean tango, Cuban bolero or irresistible songs from Chile, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Pianist Edward Simon - a native of Venezuela who has made a name for himself over decades in America as a jazz pianist, bandleader and composer-arranger, along with being a Guggenheim Fellow and member of the hit SFJAZZ Collective - has created fresh, supple interpretations of melodies from all these countries for Latin American Songbook.[x]close

Canadian flutist and soprano saxophonist Jane Bunnett traveled to Cuba and immersed herself in the island's music to make this CD, combining other Canadian musicians with a host of gifted Cubans. Guided by senior percussionist Guillermo Barreto on timbales, the result is a genuine exploration of what is most distinctive and valuable in Cuban music and the special relationship of its African elements to jazz. The traditions come together most fully in Gonzalo Rubalcaba's exploration of Thelonious Monk's "Epistrophy," but there are numerous delights here, from Bunnett's immersion in Cuban rhythms to the enchanting singing of Merceditas Valdes on several traditional songs in Yoruba dialect.
- Stuart Broomer [x]close

Courtney Granger lives in Lafayette, Lousiana. A master fiddler and extraordinarily talented singer, Courtney hails from the Balfa family lineage, which is evident in his powerful vocals and heavily Balfa-influenced fiddling. While for the past 8 years Courtney has been playing and touring full time with Cajun groups the Pine Leaf Boys and Balfa Toujours, Courtney has always had a deep affinity for and knowledge of classic country music. Featuring a master group of musicians and production by the renowned Dirk Powell, the long-awaited "Beneath Still Waters" is Courtney's solo country debut. [x]close

Every track on this compilation is strong, no doubt about it. I like much of Buddy's later work but I keep returning to the sides he recorded for Chess in the 60s. Fortunately, the sound quality is excellent for that era and doesn't get in the way at all. There is great variety in this set and I have difficulty picking favorites but these tunes do make it easy to see why so many musicians have been influenced by Buddy. It's obvious to see that young Buddy was more than capable of leading a band. Typical of Chess Records, the CD booklet has a great historical perspective and complete song info. what a band Buddy had together back in the 60's! Lafayette Leake, Little Brother Montgomery, Leonard Caston and Otis Spann alternated on piano, Jack Meyers and Phil Upchurch on bass, Fred Below, Al Duncan, Phil Thomas and Clifton James on drums plus a host of other talented players. Enjoy the newer music Buddy has made but don't forget his first golden era. Great stuff.
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The first thing we must note about this album by the Hart Valley Drifters is that it is not the most authentic bluegrass or old-time music. This is not from a long-lost box of tapes found in a dusty closet, not performed by a group of master folk musicians from somewhere in Appalachia.
No, Folk Time was recorded in 1962 by a bunch of Bay Area 20-somethings who were on an earnest quest for real American folk music. They wanted to hear it and learn to play it. So to the untrained ear, these songs will sound like what we expect that music to sound like. But aficionados will undoubtedly hear good intentions, but a serious lack of authenticity.
That's not why this recording is so damn cool. That realization comes when the banjo player introduces himself on the tape as Jerry Garcia. That Jerry Garcia.
This is a full three years before Garcia and the rest formed the Grateful Dead. The Hart Valley Drifters also included Robert Hunter, who would become Garcia's songwriting partner for the Grateful Dead, and David Nelson of the New Riders of the Purple Sage, the Bay Area psychedelic country-rock outfit and Garcia side project.
What you hear on Folk Time, besides pretty decent banjo playing, is the beginning of Garcia's quest to explore every aspect of what makes American music so rich. Despite his near deification by overzealous Deadheads, what Garcia was really after - as a musical explorer in the Dead and other projects - was a seamless integration of this music, along with blues and jazz and folk, with just the right amount of psychedelic inspiration. With the rest of his Grateful Dead bandmates, he did exactly that — and that makes these songs the roots of a cultural phenomenon that recently celebrated 50 enlightening years of redefining improvised music.
- Felix Contreras[x]close

There are gates to the city of American roots music, entryways that lead in new generations every decade. One of these gates is the Grateful Dead, whose love of folk and roots music has led many younger fans back to the source. But what gates did the Dead themselves use to come to the city? The answer lies with Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band, whose rough-and-tumble roots music in the 1960s directly inspired countless bands like The Lovin Spoonful, Country Joe and the Fish, and The Dead via Bob Weir. Now, just over 50 years since Jim Kweskin and Geoff Muldaur first joined up, they re back together with a brand-new album on Kingswood Records (Kaia Kater, Michaela Anne). Penny s Farm is a laid- back romp through some of Jim and Geoff s favorite roots songs. There joined here by some world-class musician friends, like pioneering steel guitarist and dobroist Cindy Cashdollar, blues fiddler Suzy Thompson, renowned composer Van Dyke Parks, and vocalist Juli Crockett (The Evangenitals). If there s a humbleness to the music, a kind of delightful restraint, that s because they re trying to prove a point. It s the same point Jim and Geoff started out to prove: that the music of the past has as much meaning today as it ever did. As Jim says, We re hoping that this album will help to remind people that folk music has a rich and deep history. And our music is still relevant in this world of technology. We believe that music from the heart is always relevant. Learning that music made from the heart is timeless is the kind of wisdom that Jim and Geoff first learned at the feet of the old masters, and it s something they d like to pass on now. But this isn t some dour re-creation; with this new album they prove that they re still having as much fun as ever. And anyway, the key to Jim Kweskin and Geoff Muldaur s music has always been their ability to interpret the raucous back-alley and front-porch jams of yesterday into something we can all sing along to. Try to keep from joining in on Diamond Joe, or tapping along to Down on Penny s Farm, or even wiping away a tear at the sad story of Louis Collins; you can t. This is music made to be shared. To be passed on. To last. [x]close

Puerto Rican born New York percussionist/composer/leader Little Johnny Rivero makes a big impression in this new recoding. There is more innate sense of rhythmic styles in this man than you can hear from a crowd of others. He has recorded and collaborated with some of the biggest names in the business and here he pays homage to his roots, his musical guides and the rumba within.
The ensemble is Little Johnny Rivero, congas, bongo, timbales, and minor percussion, Brian Lynch, trumpet, Louis Fouche, alto sax, Zaccai Curtis, piano and fender Rhodes, Luques Curtis, bass, Ludwig Afonso, drums, with special guests Conrad Herwig, trombone, Jonathan Powell, trumpet, Alfredo de la Fe, violin, Anthony Carrillo and Luisito, percussion, Manny Mieles and Edwin Ramos, vocals, and Giovanni Almonte, spoken word.
- Grady Harp[x]close

Legacy collects together some of Bowie's finest singles from his first hit, 1969 s "Space Oddity" through to the final singles "Lazarus" and "I Can't Give Everything Away."
Features a previously unreleased version of the classic 1971 single "Life On Mars" mixed by its original producer Ken Scott.
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An entire album's worth of unreleased live material from the tour that followed Muddy's 1977 comeback album Hard Again! And WHAT a touring band that was-not just Muddy, Johnny and James, but Pinetop Perkins, Bob Margolin, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Charles Calmese, too!
Muddy Waters had his second coming 30 years ago, when longtime friend and disciple Johnny Winter and his Blue Sky label returned him--after a series of listless recordings aimed at the rock audience--to the raw, powerful authenticity of his timeless Chess material with a series of powerful albums. Beginning with 1977's acclaimed Hard Again, a subsequent tour produced Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live, recorded onstage in Detroit, New York, and Philadelphia with Muddy's band, Winter, and harmonica player/vocalist James Cotton. Enough live material remained for Legacy to release an expanded version with an entire second disc of unissued concert material. It seems even that wasn't the end. This collection returns again to those remarkable concerts, featuring Muddy on five tracks, among them a rousing "I Can't Be Satisfied," "Trouble No More," "Caldonia," and the closing "Got My Mojo Workin'." Winter and Cotton are no less powerful, Cotton redoing Jackie Brenston's hit "Rocket '88'" and Winter ripping up John Lee Hooker's "I Done Got Over It" and "Mama Talk to Your Daughter."
- Rich Kienzle[x]close

On their debut album, Deep Waters The Lonely Heartstring Band forges a dynamic and distinct sound not unlike the genre-bending contributions made by the Punch Brothers, Alison Krauss, and Infamous String Dusters. Tracing the band s roots to their time studying at the Berklee College of Music, they come with the world's finest training in Country, Folk, and Western Chamber music. Collectively they form a unified ensemble, with a depth, originality, and musical maturity well beyond their years. Deep Waters presents the bands intricate, precise, and elegant arrangements, while retaining all the joy and spontaneity of Folkgrass at its finest.
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If Abbey Lincoln was overwhelmed by the responsibility of being proclaimed "the last of the jazz singers," she never let it show. As her great contemporaries and principal influences among the classic female jazz vocalists fell away Lincoln steadfastly maintained her dignified, almost solemn, focus; her tart, deftly timed Billie Holiday_like inflections, and her commitment to songs that dug deeper into life's meanings than the usual lost-love exhalations. This volume of Lincoln at the famed Keystone Korner puts the focus on her own compositions backed by the same inspired trio of instrumentalists from volume one.
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In February, 2014, the Freight was pleased to present "Goodnight, Pete," a free concert and community gathering paying tribute to the music, activism, and life of Pete Seeger. Many of you came out to join the crowd of close to 1,000, who enjoyed a night of song and celebration honoring this great man. [x]close

A Love Supreme is a suite about redemption, a work of pure spirit and song, that encapsulates all the struggles and aspirations of the 1960s. Following hard on the heels of the lyrical, swinging Crescent, A Love Supreme heralded Coltrane's search for spiritual and musical freedom, as expressed through polyrhythms, modalities, and purely vertical forms that seemed strange to some jazz purists, but which captivated more adventurous listeners (and rock fellow travelers such as the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, and the Byrds), while initiating a series of volatile, unruly prayer offerings, including Kulu Su Mama, Ascension, Om, Meditations, Expression, Interstellar Space. From the urgent speech-like timbre of his tenor, to the serpentine textures and earthy groove of Elvin Jones's drumming, Coltrane's suite proceeds with escalating intensity, conveying a hard-fought wisdom and a beckoning serenity in the prayer-like drones of "Psalm," where Jones rolls and rumbles like thunder as Garrison and Tyner toll away suggestively--all the while Coltrane searches for that one climactic note worthy of the love he wants to share.
- Chip Stern [x]close

John Coltrane's matchup with singer Johnny Hartman, although quite unexpected, works extremely well. Hartman was in prime form on the six ballads, and his versions of "Lush Life" and "My One and Only Love" have never been topped. Coltrane's playing throughout the session is beautiful, sympathetic, and still exploratory; he sticks exclusively to tenor on the date. At only half an hour, one wishes there were twice as much music, but what is here is classic, essential for all jazz collections.
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McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison join Trane on one of his most intimate, introspective sessions. Includes their gorgeous interpretations of All or Nothing at All; What's New; I Wish I Knew , and the rest of this 1962 Impulse LP. [x]close

2011 collection from the singer, songwriter, band leader and session man. In addition to the 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee's major chart hits and album standouts, this 16-track collection features "If It Wasn't For Bad," the lead single from The Union, Russell's 2010 collaborative album with Elton John, and his live performance of "Jumpin' Jack Flash/Youngblood" from 1971's The Concert for Bangladesh. Includes "Tightrope," "Lady Blue" and many others.
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Shipping sixty something blues icon Howlin' Wolf to England in May 1970, accompanied by his guitarist Hubert Sumlin, was a crapshoot. Wolf's health was poor and he hadn't recorded outside of Chicago since 1954. Not surprisingly, Wolf's London excursion remains a mixed bag. Certainly, the participants' hearts were in their music--with the notable exception perhaps of Wolf's--but the result never quite gelled. When the Brit rockers such as Eric Clapton the Rolling Stones' Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts dug into his songs, they collided with the ornery bluesman. Producer Norman Dayron later overdubbed Steve Winwood and Lafayette Leake's keyboards (along with horns on a few tracks) to salvage the sessions. Of all the classic Chess albums, this is an odd choice to expand with a second disc of outtakes, none of which are particularly revelatory. Still, Clapton is fiery throughout, and Wolf, although not in prime form, is never less than convincing. Though often criticized, most notably by Clapton himself, Howlin' Wolf's London Sessions offers a worthy--though not essential--snapshot of the legend in his waning years.
-Hal Horowitz[x]close

A solo piano album of the music of the Grateful Dead! It’s over two hours worth of music and has been a labor of love over the past year that I can’t wait to share with you all. It includes a solo piano "jam transcription" of one of my favorite versions of "Eyes Of The World," from Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, 6/18/74 as well as a rendition of the entire Terrapin Station Suite.
- Holly Bowling[x]close

The ten songs of this hypnotic album are Cohen rarities recorded on his recent, celebrated "Old Ideas World Tour." The songs on Can't Forget have the immediacy, spontaneity, and thrilling intimacy of the best studio recordings made in the white heat of live performance and Cohen's legendary soundchecks, in which he brings the colors of his virtuoso band to full bloom in harmony with his voice, never more seductive. Here is a full range of Leonard Cohen's work: new songs including, from the realm of blues, the wickedly funny "Got a Little Secret" and "Never Gave Nobody Trouble"; luxurious performances of such Cohen masterpieces as "I Can't Forget," "Light As a Breeze," "Night Comes On," and a sublime "Joan of Arc." Cohen also treats us to a gripping version of the Quebecois love song "La Manic," performed before a captivated audience in Quebec City, and a moving tribute cover of the late country master George Jones's "Choices." These are songs and performances of the first order that you can't forget.
Can't Forget gives listeners an extremely special glimpse into Cohen's intimate rehearsal process, widely known to be in-depth 'concerts before the concert!,' heard by fans for the first time with this new record. Cohen continues to work with vocalists, musicians, producers and engineers who are the best in the business.
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2009 two CD set from the acclaimed singer/songwriter, recorded during his 2008 world tour. For over four decades, Leonard Cohen has been one of the most important and influential songwriters of our time, a figure whose body of work achieves greater depths of mystery and meaning as time goes on. His songs have set a virtually unmatched standard in their seriousness and range. Cohen remains one of the most compelling and enigmatic musical figures of his era, and one of the very few of that era who commands as much respect and attention The set was taken from his July 17, 2008 performance at London's O2 Arena during his world tour last year. The Live in London release fully captures and recreates the extraordinary show from that tour that earned Cohen more than 80 five-star reviews for his performances. Features 25 tracks including Cohen classics such as "If It be Your Will," "I'm Your Man" and "Hallelujah."
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When considering the panoply of music living beneath the banner of Concord Music Group, there should be no problem understanding the company's reissue policy, which has been curious. Any wrinkles in such logic smooth out when anniversaries are celebrated. Concord recently acknowledged what is the first of several remastered groups of recordings celebrating Riverside Records 60th anniversary with the copious release of remastered albums of Julian Julian "Cannonball" Adderley's 1959 Things Are Getting Better, guitarist Wes Montgomery's So Much Guitar, trumpeter Chet Baker's Chet Baker Plays The Best Of Lerner & Loewe (OJC/Riverside, 1959/2013), baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan's Mulligan Meets Monk (OJC/Riverside, 1957/2013) and pianist Bill Evans' How My Heart Sings (OJC/Riverside, 1962/2013).
Concord has slated a similar release schedule for the 40th Anniversary of Norman Granz's last recording endeavor, Pablo Records. In addition to straight remasters, Concord has brought together live recordings previously parceled out over several albums onto a single more cogent and representative release. The first of these is a double anniversary celebration when saxophonist John Coltrane's Afro Blue Impressions turns 50, as Pablo reaches 40 years old.
Originally released as a two-LP set, Afro Blue Impressions contained nine live performances recorded in Berlin in November, 1962 and Stockholm in October, 1963, recorded with his classic quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones. The newly remastered compilation contains an additional three performances from the Stockholm concert ("Naima," "I Want To Talk About You" and "My Favorite Things") that were previously released on The European Tour (Pablo, 1980) and Live Trane: The European Tours (Pablo, 2001).
How Granz came into possession of these Coltrane tapes at a time when the saxophonist was committed to Impulse! Records is a bit of a question. Granz recorded and released on Pablo mostly acts that he personally managed. His Pablo imprint did not start releases until 1973, a full decade after these Coltrane sides were recorded. The material comprising the Coltrane Pablo corpus were recorded between Duke Ellington and John Coltrane (Impulse!, 1962) and John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (Impulse!, 1962) and Live at Birdland (Impulse!, 1962). While a mystery, the pedigree of these recordings is beside the point as they capture Coltrane approaching his 1964 zenith with A Love Supreme (Impulse!, 1965) and his probing recordings beyond.
The state of John Coltrane in 1962-63 was one of expansive harmonic growth. Like Miles Davis before him, Coltrane clung to his classic quartet's book, exploring and re-exploring "My Favorite Things," "Naima," "I Want to Talk About You," and "Impressions." Coltrane was still melodically directed at the time of these recordings, but one could already tell that he was en route toward Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up (Impulse!, 1965/2005) and New Thing at Newport (Impulse!, 1965), where his performance fractured as he delved inward, toward the core of sound.
These performances find Coltrane at the height of his creative powers, forcing the edges of the music further and further out. We are still well before the hour-long tenor saxophone/drums duets and Coltrane's contributions to and expansion of free jazz. Two performances each of "I Want To Talk About You" and "My Favorite Things" offer a glimpse into Coltrane's creative process, where he takes these standards, consumes them and renders them into new and vital. This is the artist hitting his stride.
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Writing this review, after Leonard Cohen's death, makes it that much harder not to attach some of the lyrics to the fact he saw what was coming. Granted, for an eighty-two year old man to write about his impending death, shouldn't be seen as unusual. But, with the first full week of November behind us the title You Want It Darker comes off less like a joke about the album's content and more of a summation of 2016 as a whole.
This album, musically, feels like a return to Cohen's work in the 1960's and 1970's. While all the songs are brilliant, they're not pop songs. You will not find a "Hallelujah" anywhere on this album musically or thematically. This is a return to the stripped down sounds of his early work, and the lyrics lack the upbeat nature that had occasionally found their way into his work starting with Ten New Songs and growing even more prominent on its follow up Dear, Heather. One of the bleaker moments, for me, is on the title track where Cohen sings, "I'm ready my Lord."
Elsewhere, the album finds Cohen touching on subjects like God, religion, and sin. On the song "Treaty" Cohen sings, "I heard the snake was baffled by his sin. He shed his scales to find the snake within. But born again is born without a skin, the poison enters into everything." The lyrics paint a fairly obvious picture of self-awareness and reflection, but for whom? Is Cohen speaking of people in general or has he found that studying Buddhism later in his life didn't help him in the way he had hoped it would?
For any longtime Cohen fans, love of the romantic variety has always found its way onto the album. While the concept is present on this release, the yearning isn't there. "I'm leaving the Table" another track that is seemingly about Cohen coming to terms with his own morality and impending death, features the lyric "I don't need a lover, no, no, no. The wretched beast is tame. I don't need a lover, so blow out the flame." The song itself finds Cohen announcing his departure, which made me think even if he survived a few more years this would be his swan song.
Ever since Cohen re-entered the musical fold with a series of tours brought on out of financial necessity in 2008, his material has been as vital as ever. Starting with Old Ideas in 2012 Cohen would begin a trilogy of releases that were indispensable to fans of music about isolation, the bleakness of the world and loss all filtered through his dark sense of humor. What would have been a capstone on that trilogy also became an artistic capstone as well.
People often find lyrics indicating songwriters knew their death was coming; from Marc Bolan and John Lennon to Kurt Cobain and Richey Edwards. However, in most instances that occurs when fans pick through albums after the artists' death and create a mythology around it. In 2016, we lost a lot of amazing musicians. Two of them, David Bowie being the other, were able to capture their deaths on record and in doing so created indispensable masterpieces to close out their careers. Here's to 2017 going easier on music fans everywhere.
- punknews.org
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This two-disc retrospective traces the Canadian bard's musical maturity from poet and novelist who sang a little to multidimensional artist whose oracular vocals and increasingly rich arrangements are every bit as compelling as his verse. Even when Cohen came to prominence through the 1960s songcraft of "Suzanne" and "Bird on a Wire," the "folksinger" tag never really fit. Later highlights ranging from the deadpan drollery of "Tower of Song" and "Everybody Knows" to the apocalyptic anthemry of "First We Take Manhattan" and "Democracy" suggest that other labels might be more appropriate: cabaret surrealist, spiritual gadfly, sensual prophet, agent provocateur. Cohen chose the selections, drawing more than half of the 31 tracks from three landmark albums--his 1967 debut Songs of Leonard Cohen, 1988's I'm Your Man, and 1992's The Future--along with four from 2001's Ten New Songs. The collection justifies its title as deep as it goes, though it's a shame that Cohen's commercial profile couldn't justify the more elaborate box set his artistry warrants (one that would at least include lyrics and musician credits). Those who sample the consistently inspired music here might come to the conclusion that everything Cohen records is essential.
-Don McLeese[x]close

Breaking Through Power: It's Easier Than We Think (City Lights Open Media).
In Breaking Through Power, Ralph Nader draws from a lifetime waging--and often winning--David vs. Goliath battles against big corporations and the United States government. In this succinct, Tom Paine-style wake-up call, the iconic consumer advocate highlights the success stories of fellow Americans who organize change and work together to derail the many ways in which wealth manipulates politics, labor, media, the environment, and the quality of national life today. Nader makes an inspired case about how the nation can--and must--be democratically managed by communities guided by the United States Constitution, not by the dictates of big businesses and the wealthy few. This is classic Ralph Nader, a crystallization of the core political beliefs and commitments that have driven his lifetime of advocacy for greater democracy.
"Ralph Nader is the grand progressive of our time. We overlook his words at our own peril! This book is required reading." - Cornel West.
"Ralph Nader's Breaking Through Power is a brilliant analysis of corporate power and the popular mechanisms that can be used to wrest back our democracy. No one has been fighting corporate domination longer, or understands it better, than Nader, who will go down in history not only as a prophet but an example of what it means to live the moral life. We disregard his wisdom and his courage at our peril." - Chris Hedges, Pulitzer-Prize winner and author of Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt.[x]close

Unpacks the twenty-one most common myths and misconceptions about Native Americans.
In this enlightening book, scholars and activists Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker tackle a wide range of myths about Native American culture and history that have misinformed generations. Tracing how these ideas evolved, and drawing from history, the authors disrupt long-held and enduring myths such as:
* "Columbus Discovered America"
* "Thanksgiving Proves the Indians Welcomed Pilgrims"
* "Indians Were Savage and Warlike"
* "Europeans Brought Civilization to Backward Indians"
* "The United States Did Not Have a Policy of Genocide"
* "Sports Mascots Honor Native Americans"
* "Most Indians Are on Government Welfare"
* "Indian Casinos Make Them All Rich"
* "Indians Are Naturally Predisposed to Alcohol"
Each chapter deftly shows how these myths are rooted in the fears and prejudice of European settlers and in the larger political agendas of a settler state aimed at acquiring Indigenous land and tied to narratives of erasure and disappearance. Accessibly written and revelatory, "All the Real Indians Died Off" challenges readers to rethink what they have been taught about Native Americans and history.[x]close

"Bill Ayers is the philosopher of the revolutionary spirit. These are despondent times, and yet, as Bill muses - history can surprise us. In preparation for that surprise, Bill has written a smart and inspirational manifesto."
- Vijay Prashad, author of The Poorer Nations.[x]close

The eruption of mass protests in the wake of the police murders of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in New York City have challenged the impunity with which officers of the law carry out violence against Black people and punctured the illusion of a postracial America. The Black Lives Matter movement has awakened a new generation of activists.
In this stirring and insightful analysis, activist and scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor surveys the historical and contemporary ravages of racism and persistence of structural inequality such as mass incarceration and Black unemployment. In this context, she argues that this new struggle against police violence holds the potential to reignite a broader push for Black liberation.[x]close

From the Revolution through the Civil Rights Movement, Americans mobilized against political, social, and economic privilege. But over the last half-century that political will has vanished. In The Age of Acquiescence, Steve Fraser explains why. His account of national transformation brilliantly examines the rise of American capitalism, the visionary attempts to protect the democratic commonwealth, and the great surrender to today's delusional fables of freedom and the politics of fear. Effervescent and razorsharp, The Age of Acquiescence is indispensable for understanding why we no longer fight for a more just society, and how we can revive the great American tradition of resistance in our own time.[x]close

Ned Ludd & Queen Mab: Machine-Breaking, Romanticism, and the Several Commons of 1811-12.
Peter Linebaugh, in an extraordinary historical and literary tour de force, enlists the anonymous and scorned 19th century loom-breakers of the English midlands into the front ranks of an international, polyglot, many-colored crew of commoners resisting dispossession in the dawn of capitalist modernity.[x]close

Nourishing Traditions examines where the modern food industry has hurt our nutrition and health through over-processed foods and fears of animal fats. NOURISHING BROTH will continue the look at the culinary practices of our ancestors, and it will explain the immense health benefits of homemade bone broth due to the gelatin and collagen that is present in real bone broth (vs. broth made from powders).
NOURISHING BROTH will explore the science behind broth's unique combination of amino acids, minerals and cartilage compounds. Some of the benefits of such broth are: quick recovery from illness and surgery, the healing of pain and inflammation, increased energy from better digestion, lessening of allergies, recovery from Crohn's disease and a lessening of eating disorders because the fully balanced nutritional program lessens the cravings which make most diets fail. Diseases that bone broth can help heal are: Osteoarthritis, Osteoporosis, Psoriasis, Infectious Disease, digestive disorders, even Cancer, and it can help our skin and bones stay young.
In addition, the book will serve as a handbook for various techniques for making broths-from simple chicken broth to rich, clear consommé, to shrimp shell stock. A variety of interesting stock-based recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner from throughout the world will complete the collection and help everyone get more nutrition in their diet. [x]close

"Palast is astonishing, he gets the real evidence no one else has the guts to dig up." Vincent Bugliosi, author of None Dare Call it Treason and Helter Skelter.
Award-winning investigative journalist Greg Palast digs deep to unearth the ugly facts that few reporters working anywhere in the world today have the courage or ability to cover. From East Timor to Waco, he has exposed some of the most egregious cases of political corruption, corporate fraud, and financial manipulation in the US and abroad. His uncanny investigative skills as well as his no-holds-barred style have made him an anathema among magnates on four continents and a living legend among his colleagues and his devoted readership.
This exciting collection, now revised and updated, brings together some of Palast's most powerful writing of the past decade. Included here are his celebrated Washington Post expose on Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris's stealing of the presidential election in Florida, and recent stories on George W. Bush's payoffs to corporate cronies, the payola behind Hillary Clinton, and the faux energy crisis. Also included in this volume are new and previously unpublished material, television transcripts, photographs, and letters.[x]close

Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use.
Craft a soothing aloe lotion after an encounter with poison ivy, make a dandelion-burdock tincture to fix sluggish digestion, and brew up some lavender-lemon balm tea to ease a stressful day. In this introductory guide, Rosemary Gladstar shows you how easy it can be to make your own herbal remedies for life's common ailments. Gladstar profiles 33 common healing plants and includes advice on growing, harvesting, preparing, and using herbs in healing tinctures, oils, and creams. Stock your medicine cabinet full of all-natural, low-cost herbal preparations.[x]close

What are the myths-and reality-behind the state of Israel?
Ilan Pappe is one of the most outspoken and radical thinkers writing on the history of Israel. In this groundbreaking and controversial book he examines ten of the most contested ideas concerning the origins and identity of the contemporary state of Israel. Once and for all he explodes the myths that justify the rights of the Israeli state, asking,
* Was Palestine an empty land at the time of the Balfour Declaration?
* Were the Jews a people without a land?
• Is there no difference between Zionism and Judaism?
* Is Zionism not a colonial project of occupation?
* Did the Palestinians leave their homeland voluntarily in 1948?
* Was the June 1967 War a war of “no choice”?
* Is Israel the only democracy in the Middle East?
* Were the failed Oslo negotiations of 1992 the PLO’s fault?
* Was it a question of national security to bomb Gaza?
* Is the Two States Solution still achievable?
Written for the general reader, this book will prompt a huge, and necessary, debate.[x]close

In these provocative, powerful essays acclaimed writer/journalist Jeff Chang (Can't Stop Won't Stop, Who We Be) takes an incisive and wide-ranging look at the recent tragedies and widespread protests that have shaken the country. Through deep reporting with key activists and thinkers, passionately personal writing, and distinguished cultural criticism, We Gon' Be Alright links #BlackLivesMatter to #OscarsSoWhite, Ferguson to Washington D.C., the Great Migration to resurgent nativism. Chang explores the rise and fall of the idea of "diversity," the roots of student protest, changing ideas about Asian Americanness, and the impact of a century of racial separation in housing. He argues that resegregation is the unexamined condition of our time, the undoing of which is key to moving the nation forward to racial justice and cultural equity.[x]close

An inspirational inside look at the trailblazing methodology developed by the nonprofit strategy and training organization, smartMeme, this unique exploration provides progressive activists with the tools to get stories into the media, build successful campaigns, and connect with other organizations the world over. Providing resources, theories, hands-on tools, and illuminating case studies for the next generation of activists, this resource shows how culture, media, memes, and narrative intertwine with social-change strategies and offers practical methods to amplify progressive causes in popular culture. A summation of the smartMeme approach, this study in memetics provides practical exercises to augment movements for justice, ecological sanity, and transformative social change.[x]close

The co-founder of Code Pink has become famous for fearlessly tackling head-on subjects most of us studiously avoid. Sometimes, she does so in person-as during President Obama's speech at the National Defense University, or during a reception for drone manufacturers and members of Congress, or in Cairo, where she was assaulted by police. Here, she's researching the sinister nature of the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
In seven succinct chapters followed by a meditation on prospects for change, Benjamin-cited by the L.A. Times as "one of the high-profile members of the peace movement"-shines a light on one of the most perplexing elements of American foreign policy. What is the origin of this strange alliance between two countries that seemingly have very little in common? Why does it persist, and what are its consequences? Why, over a period of decades and across various presidential administrations, has the United States consistently supported a regime shown time and again to be one of the most powerful forces working against American interests? Saudi Arabia is perhaps the single most important source of funds for terrorists worldwide, promoting an extreme interpretation of Islam along with anti-Western sentiment, while brutally repressing non-violent dissidents at home.
With extremism spreading across the globe, a reduced U.S. need for Saudi oil, and a thawing of U.S. relations with Iran, the time is right for a re-evaluation of our close ties with the Saudi regime.[x]close

Living Nonviolent Communication: Practical Tools to Connect and Communicate Skillfully in Every Situation.
You're about to have an uncomfortable meeting with your boss. The principal just called about your middle-schooler. You had a fight with your partner and it's an hour before bed. You know your next move will go a long way toward defining your relationships with these individuals. So what do you do?
We all find ourselves in situations similar to these and too often resort to the same old patterns of behavior-defending our need to be right, refusing to really listen, speaking cruelly out of anger and frustration, or worse. But there is another way. Living Nonviolent Communication gives you practical training in applying Dr. Marshall Rosenberg's renowned process in the areas he has most often been asked for counsel:
* Conflict resolution
* Working with anger
* Spiritual practice
* Healing and reconciliation
* Loving relationships
* Raising children *
Nonviolent Communication has flourished for four decades across 35 countries for a simple reason: it works. Now you can learn to activate its healing and transformational potential, with Living Nonviolent Communication.[x]close

In This Is All a Dream We Dreamed, two of the most well-respected chroniclers of the Dead, Blair Jackson and David Gans, reveal the band's story through the words of its members, their creative collaborators and peers, and a number of diverse fans, stitching together a multitude of voices into a seamless oral tapestry. Capturing the ebullient spirit at the group's core, Jackson and Gans weave together a musical saga that examines the music and subculture that developed into its own economy, touching fans from all walks of life, from penniless hippies to celebrities, and at least one U.S. vice president.
This definitive book traces the Dead's evolution from its humble beginnings as a folk/bluegrass band playing small venues in Palo Alto to the feral psychedelic warriors and stadium-filling Americana jam band that blazed all the way through to the 90s. Along the way, we hear from many who were touched by the Dead-from David Crosby and Miles Davis, to Ken Kesey, Carolyn "Mountain Girl" Garcia, and a host of Merry Pranksters, to legendary concert promoter Bill Graham, and others.
Throughout their journey the Dead broke (and sometimes rewrote) just about every rule of the music business, defying conventional wisdom and charting their own often unusual course, in the process creating a business model unlike any seen before. Musically, too, they were pioneers, fusing inspired ideas and techniques with intuition and fearlessness to craft an utterly unique and instantly recognizable sound. Their music centered on collective improvisation, spiritual and social democracy, trust, generosity, and fun. They believed that you can make something real, spontaneous, and compelling happen with other musicians if you trust and encourage each other, and jam as if your life depended on it. And when it worked, there was nothing else like it.
Whether you're part of the new generation of Deadheads who are just discovering their music or a devoted fan who has traded Dead tapes for decades, you will want to listen in on the irresistible conversations and anecdotes shared in these pages. You'll hear stories you haven't heard before, possibly from voices that may be unfamiliar to you, and the tales that unfold will shed a whole new light on a long and inspiring musical odyssey.[x]close

Recent changes in the Supreme Court have placed the venerable institution at the forefront of current affairs, making this comprehensive and engaging work as timely as ever. In the tradition of Howard Zinn's classic A People's History of the United States, Peter Irons chronicles the decisions that have influenced virtually every aspect of our society, from the debates over judicial power to controversial rulings in the past regarding slavery, racial segregation, and abortion, as well as more current cases about school prayer, the Bush/Gore election results, and "enemy combatants." A comprehensive history of the people and cases that have changed history, this is the definitive account of the nation's highest court.[x]close

Europe and the West face a social crisis as a brutal war in Syria has spread around the world. The ISIS, also known as Islamic State erupted violently onto the world stage in 2014 proclaiming its aim to create a Global Caliphate. War and terror in Syria have created a massive refugee crisis across Europe.
In autumn 2015 Russia was invited to help defeat ISIS in Syria. That Russian military action signaled a new era in global politics. Washington no longer dominated the military world. The world was ineluctably moving towards a new world war, one claiming to have religion at its core. Islam was being instrumentalized as a weapon of war, but by whom?
Few asked who was behind the IS terror or Al Qaeda. For that it would be necessary look back to the 1950's and the birth of a new American intelligence agency and their ties to the secret Muslim Brotherhood. What emerges is a picture so incredible few could imagine.[x]close

The People vs. Big Oil-how a working-class company town harnessed the power of local politics to reclaim their community.
Home to one of the largest oil refineries in the state, Richmond, California, was once a typical company town bankrolled by Chevron. This largely nonwhite, working-class city of a hundred thousand had experienced the by-products of decades' worth of poverty, substandard housing, and poorly funded public education. It had one of the highest homicide rates, per capita, in the country and a jobless rate often twice the national average.
But in 2012, when veteran labor reporter Steve Early moved from New England to Richmond, he witnessed a surprising transformation. In Refinery Town, Early chronicles the ten years of successful community organizing in Richmond that raised the minimum wage, defeated a casino development project, created a municipal ID to aid undocumented workers, challenged home foreclosures, and took on a big oil giant. Here me we meet a dynamic cast of characters-from 94-year-old Betty Reid Soskin, the country's oldest full-time National Park Ranger and witness to Richmond's complex history, Gayle McLaughlin, the city's first Green Party mayor who led the movement to sue Chevron-and won, to former police chief Chris Magnus, who pioneered "community policing" in Richmond, and is now celebrated as one of the country’s most effective police reformers.
Part regional history, part call to action, Refinery Town is far more than the story of how one community defeated one company and remade itself into a revolutionary city. Richmond is merely a single example of how members of local government and empowered citizens can drive the nation forward, one city at a time.[x]close

In the culmination of nearly 30 years of reporting on Donald Trump, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter David Cay Johnston takes a revealingly close look at the mogul's rise to power and prominence.
Covering the long arc of Trump's career, Johnston tells the full story of how a boy from a quiet section of Queens, NY would become an entirely new, and complex, breed of public figure. Trump is a man of great media savvy, entrepreneurial spirit, and political clout. Yet his career has been plagued by legal troubles and mounting controversy.
From the origins of his family's real estate fortune, to his own too-big-to-fail business empire; from his education and early career, to his whirlwind presidential bid, The Making of Donald Trump provides the fullest picture yet of Trump's extraordinary ascendency. Love him or hate him, Trump's massive influence is undeniable, and figures as diverse as Woody Guthrie (who wrote a scathing song about Trump's father) and Red Scare prosecutor Roy Cohn, mob bosses and high rollers, as well as the average American voter, have all been pulled into his orbit.
Drawing on decades of interviews, financial records, court documents, and public statements, David Cay Johnston, who has covered Trump more closely than any other journalist working today, gives us the most in-depth look yet at the man who would be president.
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The New York Times Best Seller!
When Bernie Sanders began his race for the presidency, it was considered by the political establishment and the media to be a "fringe" campaign, something not to be taken seriously. After all, he was just an Independent senator from a small state with little name recognition. His campaign had no money, no political organization, and it was taking on the entire Democratic Party establishment.
By the time Sanders's campaign came to a close, however, it was clear that the pundits had gotten it wrong. Bernie had run one of the most consequential campaigns in the modern history of the country. He had received more than 13 million votes in primaries and caucuses throughout the country, won twenty-two states, and more than 1.4 million people had attended his public meetings. Most important, he showed that the American people were prepared to take on the greed and irresponsibility of corporate America and the 1 percent.
In Our Revolution, Sanders shares his personal experiences from the campaign trail, recounting the details of his historic primary fight and the people who made it possible. And for the millions looking to continue the political revolution, he outlines a progressive economic, environmental, racial, and social justice agenda that will create jobs, raise wages, protect the environment, and provide health care for all-and ultimately transform our country and our world for the better. For him, the political revolution has just started. The campaign may be over, but the struggle goes on.[x]close

Leonard Cohen, one of the most important and influential artists of our era, is a man of powerful emotion and intelligence whose work has explored the essential issues of human life-sex, religion, power, love. Cohen is also a man of complexities and seeming contradictions: a devout Jew, who is also a sophisticate and a ladies' man, as well as an ordained Buddhist monk whose name, Jikan-"ordinary silence"-is quite the appellation for a writer and singer whose life has been anything but ordinary.
Imm Your Man is the definitive account of that extraordinary life. Starting in Montreal, Cohen's birthplace, acclaimed music journalist Sylvie Simmons follows his trail, via London and the Greek island of Hydra, to New York in the sixties, where Cohen launched his career in music. From there she traces the arc of his prodigious achievements to his remarkable retreat in the mid-nineties and his reemergence for a sold-out world tour almost fifteen years later. Whether navigating Cohen's journeys through the backstreets of Mumbai or his countless hotel rooms along the way, Simmons explores with equal focus every complex, contradictory strand of Cohen's life and presents a deeply insightful portrait of the vision, spirit, depth, and talent of an artist and a man who continues to move people like no one else. [x]close

Spinners of fate, threefold ancestral mothers, the distaff as a female wand of power: these aspects of European women’s spiritual culture survived state conversions to Christianity.
In a compelling exploration of language, archaeology, medieval art and literature, Max Dashu pulls the covers off ethnic lore known mostly to scholarly specialists. She shows that the old ethnic names for “witch” signify prophetess, knower, diviner, and healer. Wyrd and weirding-women, chanting over herbs, holy stones, crystal balls, weaving ceremonies, giantesses, sexual politics, and the Völuspá : this book uncovers some of the authentic ethnic roots of wyccecræft, reweaving the ripped webs of women’s culture.
cover Witches and Pagans by Max Dashu
Delving into the rich Norse orature, Max Dashu fleshes out the spiritual traditions of the völur (“staff-women”): oracular ceremonies, incantations, and “sitting-out” on the land for vision. She shows that their ritual staffs, uncovered in female burials by archaeology, symbolize the distaff, a spinning tool that connects
with broader European themes of goddesses, fates, witches, and female power.
Witches and Pagans also plunges into the the megalithic taproot of the elder kindreds, through Irish legends of the Cailleach and places sacred to her. Drawing on Frankish and German sources, Dashu lays out the foundational witch-legend of the Women Who Go by Night with the Goddess, later distorted by demonologists in the witch hunts. Related tales of Holle, Perchta,
and Swanfooted Berthe reveal sacraments of the Old Spinner Goddess, while the Anglo-Saxon “mystery-singers” shed light on ancestor veneration in early medieval Europe. [x]close

In 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Super Bowl's halftime show. The experience was so exhilarating that Bruce decided to write about it. That's how this extraordinary autobiography began.
Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life, bringing to these pages the same honesty, humor, and originality found in his songs.
He describes growing up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey, amid the poetry, danger, and darkness that fueled his imagination, leading up to the moment he refers to as "The Big Bang": seeing Elvis Presley’s debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. He vividly recounts his relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in Asbury Park, and the rise of the E Street Band. With disarming candor, he also tells for the first time the story of the personal struggles that inspired his best work and shows us why the song "Born to Run" reveals more than we previously realized.
Born to Run will be revelatory for anyone who has ever enjoyed Bruce Springsteen, but this book is much more than a legendary rock star’s memoir. This is a book for workers and dreamers, parents and children, lovers and loners, artists, freaks, or anyone who has ever wanted to be baptized in the holy river of rock and roll.
Rarely has a performer told his own story with such force and sweep. Like many of his songs ("Thunder Road," "Badlands," "Darkness on the Edge of Town," "The River," "Born in the U.S.A.," "The Rising," and "The Ghost of Tom Joad," to name just a few), Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography is written with the lyricism of a singular songwriter and the wisdom of a man who has thought deeply about his experiences.[x]close

Can be in person (Washington DC area) or on the phone or skype (Caroline likes both equally) is 90 minutes, that is recorded, then sent to you as an audio-file, right after the session. (Chart is e-mailed to you before session, if you like.)[x]close